House Of Kidnap, House Of Friendship
by Don'tReadMyStories
Summary: When Jerome is kidnapped by Rufus, how will his relationship with Alfie change? Can they mend their friendship? Will the Sibuna club find him before it's too late?
1. House Of Excuses, House Of Kidnap

Jerome looked behind him to see if anyone was watching him as he followed a path that was surrounded by trees. When he turned his head to face forward, he was grabbed by the shoulders and shoved against the brick wall of the tunnel. He came face to face with a furious Rufus and held his hands up in front of him, quick to begin his explanation. "Okay. Listen. I didn't want Victor to see me or link me with you. That is why I ran. And, to be honest, I thought you were right behind me."

"You're playing me for a fool," the man spat.

"No. No, I just-" He closed his mouth when Rufus pulled a pocketknife out of his pocket and put it to Jerome's throat. His eyes were fearful as he stared at the sharp weapon.

"Come with me." Rufus grabbed Jerome's right wrist tightly and led him under the tunnel and down a concrete path, their steps quick.

_Sh*t! Oh, sh*t! He's gonna kill me! Great plan, Nina. Thanks a lot._ "I-I can explain."

"Shut up," he said, still dragging him along.

"I was just-"

"I said, 'shut up'!"

Jerome flinched at his monstrous tone. He didn't dare open his mouth again.

When they arrived at a red car that was parked next to the trees, Rufus opened the back door and pulled out some rope. Jerome swallowed, too afraid to even move as the man tied his hands in front of him. He grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him into the backseat.


	2. House Of Plans, House Of Attempts

"Where are you taking me?" Jerome questioned, his voice quivering.

Rufus was driving down an empty road, not saying a word.

"Rufus? Tell me!"

"You'll see when we get there. But, if you don't close your mouth, I'll take pleasure in gutting you right now."

The young man tensed, eyes wide with fear. Tears brimmed his eyes. He leaned his forehead on the back of the front seat, looking down at his shoes. He wondered what everyone was doing back at Anubis house-if they realized that he was gone yet. They know that he went to meet Rufus, but will they figure out that something is wrong before it's too late? _Probably not._ Not that he thought that they were stupid. He just didn't trust anyone with his life-or anything else, for that matter. Jerome had to get out of this himself. _But how?_ He knew that it'd be hard, for his hands were tied. So hitting was out of the question. _Wait a second…._ He looked down at the rope, coming up with a plan._ Now to put it into action…._

He scooted up in his seat a bit, trying to go unnoticed. Jerome swallowed and prepared himself with quiet breaths before lifting his hands over the seat and in front of Rufus' neck. He pulled back hard, attempting to strangle the man.

Rufus stepped on the brake to keep them from running off of the road. His instincts kicked in. He pulled out his pocketknife, then whipped his left hand back, causing the sharp metal to stab into the side of Jerome's leg-somewhere between the knee and the foot.

"Ahhh!" Jerome screamed. He only removed the rope from around Rufus' neck when the man swung his arm around some more, attempting to penetrate him again. He scooted as close to the door as possible, his bound hands shaking as they struggled to find the handle, for his eyes were glued to the knife. He managed to glance out of the corner of his eye, grab the handle, then open the door.

Jerome landed on the cement, scraping his forearms, which were the first things to touch ground. He crawled out army-style, then leaned against the car a bit so he could get onto his feet. "Ah!" He was quick to stand, for his adrenaline was pumping through his veins.

He began a sort of limp-run, but, when he took a step with his left leg, he fell with pain shooting through his body. He stood back up, slower this time, for he didn't have anything to lean on. He decided that he might be able to lose Rufus if he ran through the woods instead of if he stayed on the open road. He turned and started toward the trees, too scared to look back at the man he was running from, who was opening his door.

Jerome went as fast as he could, but was immensely slowed down by his leg. He hurried through the forest, tripping over the twigs and tree roots that seemed to grab at his feet.

"You can't escape from me," Rufus called.

Jerome dared a glance behind him, but only saw green. When he turned his head forward, he lost his balance, flipping and rolling down a hill. He came to a stop at a two-feet-wide creek, which was filled with leaves that flowed through the water. The boy's head hit a rock, knocking him out. He was laying on his stomach, his head under the water.  


* * *

  
Jerome's face was contorted with pain as he began to wake up. He went to touch his aching head, but found that his hands were tied behind him. He opened his eyes and saw that he was sitting next to Rufus in the car. The recent events came back to him in a rush. He looked down and saw that his leg had some sort of cloth over his cut. His hair was damp, his clothes dirty.

He stared at the door handle, knowing that he had to get away. He couldn't reach it, though, for his hands were behind his back. He attempted to untie the rope, but failed. He glanced at Rufus, then put his eyes back onto the door handle.

The man saw this. "Don't even think about it. There is a child-lock on that door; you won't be able to open it from the inside."

"What do you want with me?" he asked desperately. But he didn't receive an answer. He hung his head, feeling a lump rising in his throat. He tried to swallow it down, but failed. A single tear escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek until it reached his lips, where it hung for a moment before dropping onto his lap. He closed his eyes to keep more from falling, but they did anyway. He sniffled.


	3. House Of Worry, House Of Lies

Alfie looked at the clock, finding that Jerome had been gone for twenty minutes. He went into the living room. "Has anyone seen Jerome?"

"No," Fabian answered.

"He _has_ been gone for a while," said Nina.

"I think something bad has happened to him." Alfie was worried.

"Just give him a few minutes. I'm sure he'll show up."  


* * *

  
Rufus walked around the front of the car, then opened the passenger's door. He grabbed Jerome's shirt collar and pulled him out of the seat. He led him into a warehouse, his hand gripping the boy's arm tightly.

The building had one large room and one small room, which was in the corner. Jerome was put here. A chain was bolted to the floor. On the other end was a cuff. This was in the middle of the room.

Rufus had obviously planned on kidnapping Jerome and bringing him here, for the chain and cuff had been put together by him. He forced the young man into a sitting position, putting the cuff around the ankle of the unscarred leg.

Music suddenly began playing.

"What's that?" Rufus asked.

"My phone."

The man took it out of Jerome's pocket, checking to see who was calling. "Alfie." He put the phone to the boy's ear and pressed the 'talk' button after commanding, "Do not say a word about where you are."

"Hey, mate. What's up?"

Alfie sighed with relief. "I was so worried about you. Where are you?"

"My mum picked me up and is taking me to my grandpa's funeral. We're gonna stay with my relatives for a few days."

Rufus smiled at his quickly-thought-up lie.

Alfie knew that Jerome hasn't seen or heard from his parents since he was five. He also knew that all of his grandparents had died before he'd turned fifteen. "Is something wrong? Did something happen when you met Rufus?"

"Yeah. I'll tell her," Jerome said, glancing at Rufus, who was urging him to end the call. "I gotta go. See ya."

With that, Rufus hung up the phone.

* * *

"Jerome? Jerome, wait. Je-" Alfie stopped talking when he heard the dial tone in his ear. He hurried into the living room, where Nina, Patricia, Fabian, and Amber sat. "Sibuna meeting. Now." He went to the room that he and Jerome shared, followed by the other members.  


* * *

  
Rufus put the cell phone into his pocket. "Pretty good liar, huh?"

Jerome didn't say anything. It's not like he was proud to be good at lying.

The man pulled two pieces of cloth out of his pocket. He tied one around Jerome's mouth, using it as a gag. The other was secured over his eyes.  


* * *

  
"What's this about?" Amber said.

Alfie spoke. "Jerome's in trouble."

"What happened?" Fabian asked.

"I don't know."

"Then how do you-" Patricia began.

"I called him, and he was acting weird. He said that his mum is taking him to his grandpa's funeral. But he hasn't talked to his mum since he was five."

Nina spoke. "Maybe she-"

"All of his grandparents are dead," Alfie stated.

Everyone exchanged worried glances.

"Okay," Nina said. "What exactly did he say while you were on the phone with him?"

"He said that he and his mum were going to stay at their relative's for a few days until the funeral. I asked him if something happened when he met Rufus, but he only said, '_Yeah. I'll tell her._' Then he had to go.

Everyone thought about this.

"Something was wrong. I could tell in his voice."

"Wait a second," Nina said. "After you asked if something happened, he said '_yeah_'. Maybe Rufus was around. What if Jerome was trying to cover up the answer so Rufus wouldn't get suspicious about what the question was?"

"I'm confused," said Amber.

"Are you saying…" Patricia paused. "Are you saying that Rufus kidnapped Jerome?"  


* * *

  
"Hello, Victor," Rufus said into his cell phone.

"What are you calling me for, Rufus?" Victor said.

"I just wanted to make a trade. I want that elixir."

"I don't think so."

"Not sure? How about now?" Rufus put the phone to Jerome's ear and commanded him to talk.

"Hello?" the boy said.

"Jerome? Is that you?" Victor said.

Rufus took the phone before he could answer. "So how about that trade?"  


* * *

  
"What are we gonna do?" Alfie asked.

"We could look around the campus for clues tomorrow. It's too late tonight; we won't be able to see."

Rufus gave Victor twenty-four hours to get him the elixir. If he didn't, Rufus would kill Jerome.

Currently, Rufus was leaning against a wall, reading though Jerome's text messages. "Who's this 'Mara' girl? You fancy her?"

The boy didn't answer. Instead, he knowingly asked, "You're not gonna let me go…are you?"

Rufus grinned. The young man couldn't see this, but he understood because of Rufus' silence.

Jerome's voice cracked. "Why?"

"You know way too much."

"I won't tell anyone. I promise."

Rufus gave another reason. "You double-crossed me."

Tears formed in the young man's eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I bet you are."


	4. House Of Escape, House Of Tears

Jerome hadn't been able to sleep. He was too scared.

He was currently tugging at the rope with his fingers, attempting to untie it. He's been at it for ten minutes. But he finally got his hands undone. He quickly slid the rope off of his wrists and pulled off the blindfold and gag. He pulled at the chain and played around with the cuff, but neither of them budged.

Jerome began to slide the cuff off of his foot, but had great trouble getting it past his heel. He squeezed his eyes closed tight as the metal tore through his skin. He let out a small cry, then bit his lip and continued, finally getting his bare foot free.

He stood, then hurried toward the door, opening it silently. He checked to see if the coast was clear. This confirmed, he stepped out of the room. Jerome started toward the exit, but saw his cell phone on a table and went to pick it up. After that, he left the warehouse, limp-running through the forest as things poked through the skin on the bottom of his foot.

As he bolted through the trees, he dialed the police on his phone, but was put on hold, for today, obviously, was a busy crime day. Jerome tried another number.

Alfie answered on the second ring. "Jerome? Hey."

"Alfie, listen. I need help. Rufus kidnapped me."

"Where are you?"

"I…." Jerome sniffled. "I don't know. Alfie, please, help me."

"Okay. I will, buddy. Don't worry." Alfie tried to make conversation to calm his friend. "How'd you get a hold of your phone?"

"I…I got away. I don't…." He sniffled. "I don't know where I'm going." His vision blurred as tears fell from his eyes. "I can't see anything."

"Just keep running, okay?"

"I can't…." Jerome frequently paused to concentrate on not tripping or to catch his breath. "I can't run fast. He stabbed me…my leg. It hurts. And my foot…. There was this cuff. It looks bad."

"That's okay. We can get it checked out at the hospital when you get here."

"There's a road," Jerome said as he exited the woods.

"Okay. That's good. Follow it."

"Which way?"

"Just pick one. Whichever seems like it would go toward the school. Or something public."

Jerome looked back and forth before going left, his bare feet hitting the concrete. "Okay."

"You're doing great, buddy. Don't stop running."

"Okay. My legs hurt."

"Keep going, alright?"

"Okay."

"Just think about getting back. We could do the biggest prank ever on Sweety."

Jerome chuckled, then choked out a sob as he thought about not making it back.

"And you could ask Mara out. She's having problems with Mick. Sounds like a plan, yeah?"

"Yeah." Jerome looked in the distance. "There…there's a car."

Alfie sighed with relief. "That's great."

The young man waved his arms in the air. "Hey! Stop! Help me!" As the car got closer and clearer, he came to a halt. "Sh*t!"

"What?"

"It's Rufus!"

"How far away?"

Jerome couldn't think about math at a time like this. "Not far."

"Okay. Listen to me, Jerome. You have to throw the phone toward the trees."

"Why?"

Alfie hesitated. "He's gonna take you."

"No." Jerome choked on the word through sobs.

"I need you to do what I said, okay? And then yell out everything that you see around you-anything significant so I would know where you are."

The blond cried.

"Jerome, you have to do this or I won't be able to find you."

"Okay." He forced himself to toss the phone, careful not to throw it too far so Alfie could hear what he said. He looked around. "Um…there's a sign-speed limit sign. Twenty-five miles per hour. Uh…"

"C'mon, Jerome. I need more than that."

"There's a small wooden cross at the curve ahead. Someone must have died in a crash. And…and a tire. Swerve marks."

"Okay. What else?"

"It's Rufus."


	5. House Of Blame, House Of Threats

Alfie was pacing in his room. "Name some more things."

A new voice entered into the conversation. "What are you doing out here?" When Jerome said nothing, Rufus continued. "Huh? Were you trying to escape?"

There was a thud, so Alfie suspected that Jerome was punched and had fallen onto the ground.

"Ahh! Stop it!" Jerome yelled as he was repeatedly kicked. "Stop it!"

Alfie took a seat on his bed and pulled the phone away from his ear, tears escaping his eyes. He didn't want to hear what was going on-what was happening to his best friend. He felt like it was his fault that this was happening to Jerome. _If I wouldn't have ditched him all the time, he wouldn't have wanted to get involved._

Fabian opened the door and stepped inside. "Ready to look for-what's wrong?"

He held out the phone, so Fabian took it and put it to his ear. He listened to Jerome's desperate pleads and Rufus' curses and threats. They stopped after a minute, being replaced by Jerome's sobbing.  


* * *

  
Rufus spied something in the grass, so he decided to investigate. He went toward it, then picked it up. "You called the police, didn't you?" He said, walking back to Jerome.

"No."

"Didn't you?"

"No!"

Rufus kicked his side hard. Jerome grabbed the inflicted area and groaned.

"Who did you call?"

"No one."

"You're lying." The man punched Jerome, causing his nose to bleed.

The young man coughed, blood splattering onto the grass. He rolled onto his stomach, attempting to crawl away as he slid his body across the ground.

Rufus put the phone to his ear, his eyes on Jerome. He knew that the boy wouldn't get far, so he wasn't in a hurry to go after him.

Fabian spoke, hearing the man's breathing. "Let Jerome go, or we'll get the police involved. They'll get him back."

"Not if I kill him first."

Fabian heard Jerome scream before the call was ended by Rufus. "C'mon. We have to get the others and start our search."

They both hurried to find the other Sibuna members, telling them about the call. Before they left, Alfie secretly grabbed a knife from the kitchen.


	6. House Of Signs, House Of Deadline

Jerome sat in the small room of the warehouse, sporting a gag and a blindfold. Instead of being placed in the middle of the room, he was on the side, his arms cuffed over his head against the wall and his feet chained as if he were a prisoner in a dungeon. This was another one of Rufus' self-made objects.

His shoes had been taken from him. Jerome was hungry, thirsty, sweaty, and tired. He was sore all over. Bruises covered his battered body.

Jerome was so lonely here, for he and Rufus barely spoke. But this feeling isn't anything new. He's been this way since his parents left him. He'd always covered it up so well and replaced his need for them with his relationship with Alfie. Sometimes, he was even rude to his friend just so someone else could feel as low as he did. And because he longed for someone to confide in-someone to help him get things off of his chest.

So along came Mara and the start of a beautiful friendship. But she, too, like everyone else important in his life, had soon abandoned him-found someone better than him.

He knows that he shouldn't bottle these things up deep inside for years. But what else can he do? Who can he trust? _No wonder I have trust issues. I've been trusting the wrong people my whole life._ Rufus, Mara, Alfie, his parents-they've all let him down. They're the reason he felt this way-p*ssed that he kept waking up in the mornings just to have the knife stabbed deeper and deeper each day. He had no friends-nothing special going for him later on in life. _So what's the point of staying in this hell then?  


* * *

  
_The Sibuna club was in a line, each person side-by-side, staring at the ground as they walked, searching for any sign that Jerome had been there. Not even Amber complained. Patricia was on the road, while Fabian was next to the tree-line. Everyone else was between them.

"Guys, come here. Quick," Patricia said.

They all hurried toward her. Alfie was there first. They looked down at the large red stain on the ground.

"Is that blood?" Amber asked.

"I think so," said Fabian.

"Look." Nina pointed. "There's a trail going into the woods."

They followed it past several trees until coming to a hill. Spying something, Alfie hurried down it, almost sliding on the leaves. Fabian followed. They saw a rock next to the creek that had blood on it.

Alfie bent down, then picked up a watch. "It's Jerome's."

"He's been here," Fabian said. "C'mon. Let's keep looking."  


* * *

  
"Twenty minutes until the deadline," Rufus said. "You think he'll make it?"

Jerome was barely comprehensible because of the gag tied around his mouth. "If not, you could let me go, and I'll get the elixir for you."

Rufus chuckled. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for that?"

"Well, you were the first time." Jerome's head turned when the man hit him with the back of his hand.

"What did you just say to me?"

"Sorry."

"That's what I thought."  


* * *

  
"Look!" Alfie said. "It's the wooden cross that Jerome told me about."

"And the swerve marks," Patricia said.

"And the tire," noticed Amber.

Fabian looked at the tree-line. "He has to be close."

"Guys?" Nina picked up a white object on the ground, which was smashed into pieces as if it had been stepped on.

"It's his cell phone," Alfie said.

"And more blood," said Amber.

"This is where he came out of the woods. C'mon." Alfie led them through the forest, looking for more signs.  


* * *

  
Rufus took off Jerome's gag and blindfold. Once he did this, the boy spat in his face. Rufus pulled a gun from the back of his pants and put it against the young man's temple.

"Go ahead," Jerome said, his teeth clenched. "You're not doing anything that I haven't been wanting to do myself."

Rufus cocked the gun, but whipped around when he heard a loud noise coming from outside of the warehouse. He hesitantly left to investigate.

After a moment, the Sibuna club entered the room.

Jerome looked at them. "You found me."

Alfie used the key that he'd found in the larger room to unlock the cuffs, then helped the boy to his feet. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."

Everyone started toward the door, but was blocked by Rufus and his gun.

"Going somewhere?" the man said threateningly. "But the party was just about to start."

The kids backed up when he stepped inside.

"Let us go," Fabian said.

"I don't think so. Jerome's deadline is up."

The mentioned boy stepped back, eyes fearful.

Rufus put the gun away, then pulled out his pocketknife. He looked at the young man with a smirk as he went toward him. Jerome's back was against the wall. Rufus stuck the metal into the boy's stomach.

"Ahh!" Jerome's eyes were wide. His body jerked when the man pulled out the knife. He slid down the wall slowly, coming to a sitting position as he pressed down on the inflicted area.

Alfie pulled out his own knife and stabbed Rufus's side. The man pushed Alfie away. But the boy wouldn't give up. He stood and jumped onto his back. Because of the knife wound, Rufus was weak. But he still managed to push Alfie onto the floor. He turned and lifted his knife, about to stab the boy, when he felt his gun being taken from him. He whipped around the see the gun pointed at him by a shaky hand: Jerome's hand.

"Leave him alone," the blond boy managed.

Knowing that the young man was weak, Rufus kicked the gun out of Jerome's hand, then hurried to pick it up. He pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting Jerome's shoulder.

"Ahhhhhh!" The boy clutched his shoulder, eyes shut tight. "Sh*t!" He opened his eyes to find the gun pointed at his head. He breathed rapidly as his heartbeat quickened its pace.

Alfie stood and hurriedly tackled Rufus. Once they were on the ground, Fabian helped. Amber kicked the gun away when the man let it go. Jerome picked it up weakly, aimed it at Rufus, then fired five times, careful not to hit his friends.

That done, he dropped the gun. His back started to slowly slide sideway against the wall, for he was not strong enough to hold himself up. Nina and Amber hurried toward him, reminding him to keep breathing. Patricia used her cell and called the police.

Jerome's head was on the ground, pain shooting through his body. He couldn't hold his eyes open. He let the darkness take over.


	7. House Of Apologies, House Of Friendship

Jerome slowly opened his eyes, finding machines to the left of him. He was sore and in pain. When he looked to his right, he saw Alfie sitting in a chair, his head laying on the bed next to Jerome's torso.

"Alfie?" His voice was barely audible, so he shook the boy's shoulder. "Alfie?"

Alfie's head shot up. He looked at Jerome. "You're awake! I've been so worried about you."

"You saved my life."

"You saved mine, too."

"How did you guys find me?"

"We found your watch by a creek. And your cell phone in the grass."

"Is Rufus…dead?"

"Yeah." Alfie put his hand on Jerome's good shoulder. "I am so proud of you. You were so brave."

The blond shook his head. "I was terrified the whole time." After a moment, he asked, "Where's everyone else?"

"At school."

"Oh."

Alfie broke a long silence. "Look. I'm sorry that I always ditched you. I talked to the other guys and they agreed to make you a member of Sibuna…if you wanted to be."

Jerome smiled. _Friends._ "Yeah. And I'm sorry for treating you like a dog."

"Best mates?"

"Always."

The two teens grinned at one another, both glad to have reestablished their relationship. They silently made a vow that nothing would ever break them apart again. This was a beautiful restart to their friendship.


End file.
